Bubble, Bubble, Debt’s a Trouble

Equal parts whimsy and fury, the blood-red fist seems at odds with the convivial atmosphere of Mike’s Place, the graduate students’ pub in the Unicentre, where the fist shakes itself at the heavens 24/7.

It’s the tap handle for Debt Rage Lager, the pub’s house brew. At $5.50 a glass, it’s the cheapest on tap and accords perfectly with the numerous posters hung throughout the pub that demand a drop in crippling tuition fees.

The fist was made in 2010 by Austin Miller, BAHons/09, MA/11, when he was VP external for the Graduate Students’ Association. The association had just changed the name of the existing house brew from Mike’s Place Lager to Debt Rage to articulate student wrath over mounting debt.

Miller wanted a vivid symbol to accompany the new moniker. He used his own fist and a clay moulding kit, spray-painted his creation red and cadged a leather wrist bracelet from another GSA member. The low-budget result is as fearsome as a student’s overdrawn bank account.

That “’78” on the ring? It’s the number of the association’s union local. Debt Rage Lager, by the way, is a smooth-drinking treat, although the slightly bitter finish speaks volumes about students’ financial straits.

Mike’s Place—40 years old this year and named for former prime minister and Carleton chancellor Lester B. (Mike) Pearson—has just added the new Debt Rage Red to its lineup. Ball caps emblazoned with the fist: $10.